How James Murdoch Is ‘Power Grabbing’ News Corp From His Dad

Earlier this morning, we told you some details about the buzzed-about New York Magazine profile on Rupert Murdoch and his battle against The New York Times and Google.

Gabe Sherman takes a close look at Murdoch’s son, James and how he has been infiltrating on his father’s territory.

He is described as an “introvert,” a loner artist type who seemed to have a blasé attitude about joining News Corp. during his younger years. At an newspaper internship, he was photographed taking a nap on a couch during a press conference. The photo was splashed across tabloids, which lead to James’ “suspicion” of the press. He was born in London and raised in New York and went to elite private school Horace Mann. He and “was into music and wore long black wool trench coats and Chuck Taylors.” He dropped out of Harvard and started a hip-hop label called Rawkus.

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Rupert bought the record label in 1996 and lured James back into the News Corp fold. out James in charge of News Corp.’s internet division, which was later “gutted” when the bubble burst in 2000. He was transferred to Hong Kong to run Star TV, and got his feet wet in the television business.

At 30, James left Star TV in 2003 to run BSkyB as CEO. According to Sherman, “At BSkyB, his business instincts emerged. Like his father, he could make gut decisions and seemed to relish provocation.” “James played it so right,” a former senior News Corp. executive told NYMag. “He had left the country, and he established himself.”